CBI Probing Cases in Bengal Under Court Orders, No State Govt Can Stop it: Sitaram Yechury

Differentiating between the stand of his party and that of Mamata Banerjee, who is also the Trinamool Congress chief, on CBI, Yechury said, 'We are (even) against the misuse of the CBI in favour of Mamata Banerjee.'

File image of CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury

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New Delhi: The CPI(M) on Saturday said the CBI was investigating cases in West Bengal under court orders and no state government could "obstruct" such probes.

Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary Sitaram Yechury asserted that the Left party was against the misuse of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for political gains and expected the probe agency to favour neither Prime Minister Narendra Modi nor West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

"We are against the misuse of the CBI for political purposes. We are in favour of justice, not in favour of Modi or Mamata," he told reporters at the CPI(M) office here.

The West Bengal government Friday withdrew the "general consent" accorded to the CBI to conduct raids or probes in the state.

The decision came close on the heels of a similar step taken by the Andhra Pradesh government.

Differentiating between the stand of his party and that of Banerjee, who is also the Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief, on CBI, Yechury said, "We are (even) against the misuse of the CBI in favour of Mamata Banerjee."

CPI(M) politburo member Brinda Karat pointed out that the Left party had earlier "criticised the delay by the CBI in a court-ordered inquiry against Mamata Banerjee".

Several TMC leaders are under the scanner of the CBI and other probe agencies for their alleged involvement in the Saradha chit fund scam and in connection with the Narada sting operation.

Yechury said the CBI, which had the powers of the police, had to take the consent of the state governments since law-and-order was a State List subject according to the Constitution.

However, he added that the central probe agency could investigate matters pursuant to court orders.

"The CBI investigations in West Bengal are under court orders. The agency can undertake investigations after court orders and no state government can obstruct those," the CPI(M) leader said.

Banerjee had extended support to Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu over the issue, saying, "What the Chandrababu Naidu government has done is absolutely right. We will also
look into the rules under which it was done. Earlier, there was no need to use such provisions, but we need to do it now as the BJP is using the CBI and other agencies to pursue its own political interests and vendetta."